Up the river

A cold, windy morning greeted me as I left work on Monday 1/2/12. With my initial idea of a morning hike dashed I decided to take a drive north along the Susquehanna River. A pre-dawn arrival at Myo Park, Millersburg, PA offered the opportunity to try for owls, I was hopeful since the wind here was diminished. With some effort I was able to elicit a response from an Eastern Screech-owl. Nearly simultaneously, I heard two Great Horned Owls preforming a courtship duet.

From Myo Park I crossed the Wiconisco Creek to await daylight so I could scan the Susquehanna for waterfowl. Nearby hunter activity proved to be my undoing and the only highlight was a small group of Bufflehead.

I left Millersburg and headed south to the PA Fish Commission Halifax Access located off PA Rt. 147 just north of Halifax borough. A scan from this location yielded a pair of Common Goldeneye and an adult Bald Eagle, most likely a bird from the Girty's Notch, Perry County nest, which is located almost directly across the river from here.

After a brief stopped at the PFC Fort Hunter Boat Launch I decided to brave the chilly wind and take a walk around Wildwood Lake Park, Harrisburg. Due to mild temperatures here this winter the lake is still unfrozen and is harboring a nice variety of waterfowl. During my walk I found 4 Gadwall, 6 Northern Shoveler, 2 Northern Pintail, 2 Green-winged Teal, 17 American Black Duck, 2 Wood Duck, 50 Mallard and 150 Canada Goose. In addition to the waterfowl a group of 6 Rusty Blackbird and a single Yellow-bellied Sapsucker were added to my year list. During the drive home I spotted another year bird, a lone male American Kestrel, sitting on power wires near the Pennsylvania Game Commission headquarters along Elmerton Avenue.

Overall a nice, albeit chilly, morning out and about in Dauphin County. I most likely will be taking a break from county birding on January 3rd---word on the street is a dark morph Gyrfalcon has been seen sparingly the past few days patrolling farmland near Lenhartsville, Berks County. A rare visitor from the far north, Gyrfalcon, along with its raptor brethren, Swainson's Hawk, is my personal nemesis bird for Pennsylvania. I will attempt to spot the Gyr tomorrow but I don't have much hope! Stay tuned!

Species for the year  Dauphin--53   PA--55